Windows 8 mobile management features entice CIOs

CIOs are being persuaded by the operating system's ability to manage a remote workforce

The ability to help manage a remote and flexible workforce will be a deciding factor as to whether UK companies will deploy Windows 8, according to research.

A fifth (19 percent) of 500 UK CIOs in research commissioned by Virgin Media Business said that Windows 8's ability to help them handle a remote workforce is persuading them to purchase the product.

The study also found that 41 percent of the respondents were looking at how well the software performed with a more dispersed and mobile team of workers, before making a purchasing decision.

The consumerisation of IT and growing popularity of bring your own device (BYOD) schemes will have an effect on Windows 8 deployment decisions, suggested the research.

The survey found that 62 percent of CIOs believed that company supplied PCs will disappear from the office and already nearly one in five (16 percent) of companies offer BYOD schemes.

Tony Grace, chief operating officer at Virgin Media Business, said: "Many CIOs recognise the need for an operating system that allows them to be as flexible as possible, which is why Windows 8 has received their attention."

CIOs will be looking for a "blend of the right software and the right infrastructure" that releases them from the barriers of traditional ways of working and "gives them the platform to offer their staff exactly what they need",said Grace.